Monteverde, Costa Rica
Newsweek in 2010 published a list of the ”100 Places to Visit Before they Disappear”. In the Americas, the Monteverde Cloud Forest was listed 14th. A poll of Costa Ricans in the national newspaper La Nacion listed the Monteverde Cloud Forest as one of the “Seven Wonders of Costa Rica”.
While natives had lived in the area now known as Monteverde for some time, it was the arrival of the Quakers from Alabama that brought attention to the area. In 1949, four Alabama Quakers were jailed for refusing the Korean War draft. When they were released from jail, they, along with their friends, decided to look for a place to move. Costa Rica seemed an ideal location because it did not have an army. The area which they named Monteverde (green mountain in Spanish) appealed because it was green and perfect for dairy farming. In 1951, 11 families and 44 Quaker settlers established a community in Monteverde. They soon developed schools, dairy farms and a cheese factory.
While the history of Monteverde is fascinating, the reason most people visit Monteverde is because of the Cloud Forest. Cloud forests are a type of rain forest, which can only be found in a few tropical mountain areas in the world. Because of the elevation, the forest is often in the middle of the clouds and water is being continuously deposited on the leaves of the trees. This makes it an ideal environment for plants and animals. The lushness of the cloud forest will amaze you. There are six distinct life zones in the 25,730 acres of protected land which straddles the continental divide. This incredible biodiversity gives Monteverde international acclaim as one of the most exceptional refuges in the entire world
Monteverde boasts a wealth of flora and fauna including 2,500 species of plants with 420 orchids and 200 ferns. It is home to 425 species of birds of which 21% are migratory. Monteverde always has one of the largest Christmas bird counts and in 1997 was number 1 in the world with 368 different species of birds sighted in 24 hours. This bird diversity includes 50 species of hummingbirds. The rare resplendent quetzal, a bird that many make the visit here just to see can sometimes be viewed on walks in the very early morning from March to June. Other popular birds include the great green macaw, the bare-necked umbrella bird, the ornate hawk-eagle and the three-wattled bell bird.
More than 100 species of mammals live in the reserve including both the howler and capuchin monkey. All six species of wild cat can be found in Monteverde: the jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay cat, jaguarondi and the tigrillo. The sloth, tapir, deer, armadillo, fox, agouti and coatimundi can also be seen.
A total of 160 species of amphibians and reptiles live in the Monteverde area including the fabled golden toad which was discovered here but hasn’t been seen since 1988.
Two major companies offer tours and activities in the Monteverde area, Selvatura Park and Sky Adventure Travel. Both companies feature a zip line where you can fly above the canopy wearing a harness and connected by a cable to the zip line. This offers a huge adrenaline rush as you fly with the birds.
Both companies offer alternatives for the less adventurous or for those who would prefer to go at a slower pace and have a better opportunity to view the incredible flora and fauna of the area above the canopy.
Since we have already enjoyed the zip line tour, on our last visit to Monteverde, we decided to take the Tree Top Walkway tour offered by Selvatura Park. Sky Adventure also offers Sky Walk, a similar tour.
The Tree Top Walkway consists of a 1.9 mile trail with eight different hanging bridges. The bridges are between 150 feet and 510 feet long and five feet wide. The hanging bridges swing between 36 feet to 180 feet above the ground. You can take either the guided or self guided tour which takes between 1.5 to 2 hours in length. We enjoyed the slow pace and the opportunity to take hundreds of photos of the incredible wildlife. The walk while long can be done at a leisurely pace. Additionally, the terrain offers un-strenuous slopes which most people can handle.
Sky Adventure offers Sky Tram additionally, a gondola that flies above the canopy. This is the least strenuous option for visitors.
While visiting Monteverde we also visited the Herpetarium at Selvatura Park. At this reptile and amphibian exhibit we saw frogs, lizards, geckos, and snakes. The tour guide educated us about these amazing creatures and showed us how to distinguish between poisonous and non poisonous snakes.
Sky Adventure also offers a snake tour which is a serpentarium for retiles and amphibians.
While at Selvatura Park we also visited the Hummingbird Garden which boasts 14 different species of hummingbirds. We spent quite a long time here taking photos of these beautiful, fast flying birds. Another garden good for photos is the butterfly garden. Here there are more than 50 species of butterfly including the spectacular iridescent blue morpho butterfly.
Selvatura Park also has the 3rd largest insect museum in the world.
Other options in the nearby area include horseback riding. While this isn’t allowed in either the Monteverde Reserve or the Santa Elena Reserve a nearby private 343 acre farm provides a good location for horseback riding.